A Lion Chase at the Tsungwesi Mission, South Africa
By M. C. Sturdevant
THE lions are coming too near us to be comfortable. They are around our houses and cattle kraal very often. If it were not for our large dogs, we would be much more troubled, as several cattle and hogs have been killed around us. The boys and I have been called several times by the natives to take our guns and help hunt the lions. One day we succeeded in coming upon a large one lying on top of the calf he had just dragged off up the mountain. There were about forty natives with me. As we came upon him, all halted while I made a noise in front of him. The bullet took effect in the neck, causing him to leave his prey and run farther up the mountain. We followed after, soon coming upon him again, where, at rather a long distance, I got two more bullets into his side. He ran a little farther in the bush where he lay close behind a tree, and before I hardly knew it I was within sixty yards of him. This time he arose to his full, roaring till the ground fairly trembled. Many of my native helpers began climbing trees. I hastened to put another bullet into the lion’s body, which made him start for me in earnest. Seeing that I had not time to reload, I gave him a load of buckshot in the face. This made him rise on his hind feet and fall over backward in the tall grass and bush. We approached cautiously, and found several places where he had lain down and struggled, but he escaped from us, so we left him to his fate, having shot him five times. Thus ended our first day’s adventure in lion-hunting. M. C. STURDEVANT.